This blog is meant to display my coins/currency notes/stamps, in an informative manner, which would be useful to users in knowing about the history of the period when these coins/banknotes/stamps were minted/printed and events/persons they honour/depict, both on Indian and foreign coins/banknotes/stamps. The content would be more in the nature of a walk down memory lane through my collection/articles.

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Thursday, 3 May 2012

66) Coins of Canada; Minted by the Royal Canadian Mint:

66) Coins of
Canada;

Minted by the
Royal Canadian Mint:

A bust of Queen Elizabeth II
appears on the obverse face of all Canadian coins. The Canadian dollar is
divided into 100 cents like the American dollar. The coin scans for this post have been contributed by Mr. R.N. Lalingkar (10 cents, 5 cents and 1 cent) and Dennis Ksing (2 dollar - "Boreal Forest" coin, 1 dollar "loonie", 25 cents, 5 cents and 1 cent) and Jayant Biswas (10 cent coin).

The two-dollar coin is the highest denomination coin. It is
nicknamed the “doubloonie or two loons” or toonie” (a distorted version for the
term “two loonies” meaning “having a value of two dollars” and rhyming with the
word “Loonie” nickname for the one dollar coin, although it does not depict the
“Loon” on its reverse, instead it has a polar bear).

As this coin traditionally depicts a Polar Bear
on the reverse, after a nation-wide contest in 2006, the polar bear was named
“Churchill” after the Manitoba city, where these bears are found in large
numbers, which was also done to highlight attention on these bears which are in
danger of losing their habitat due to global warming.

The $2 coin has a
silver-coloured outer rim and a gold coloured centre and was introduced in 1996
as a cost-saving measure, as the two-dollar note was withdrawn with its
introduction.

Silver one- Dollar Coin: In 1935, Canada issued a silver
dollar coin to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the reign of King
George V (one year before he passed away). The obverse shows a portrait of the King
with a Latin inscription. The reverse shows a native aboriginal and a Voyageur
paddling a birch bark canoe. (With a good loupe one can make out an “HB”
engraving on the bundle of cargo in the canoe standing for “Hudson’s Bay
Company”. These silver dollars were issued each year until the “loonie” was
introduced in 1987.

These silver dollars are now found mostly in Numismatist’s
collections and with coin dealers and have all been replaced by the “Loonie”.

The fifty cents coin has the value of a half-dollar and
traditionally depicts the Coat of Arms for Canada. Over the past few decades it
has not been circulating widely, as very few coins have been issued by the Royal Canadian Mint, and is primarily of Coin Collectors and dealers’
interest; nevertheless it still remains legal tender.

The twenty-five cent coin is the next in value. It is commonly
called a “quarter” (short for quarter dollar, which is the actual value of the
coin). This coin traditionally has the picture of a Caribou on it. Caribou are
large, strong animals and are a variety of Deer. Obverse of a 25 cent coin issued in 2009 showing the Royal Canadian Mint mark, (based on RCM's logo) below the queen's portrait/bust, which has been engraved on all issued coins since October 2006:

The five-cent coin is commonly called a “nickel”. This coin
traditionally has a picture of a Beaver on its reverse. Beavers build dams
across rivers/streams and water bodies by cutting down logs/trees with their
strong teeth and using their tails.

These one – penny coins are no
longer cost effective, as it costs the Government 1.6 cents to mint a new
penny. Also, due to inflation, the purchasing power of the penny has eroded
over the years. On 29th March 2012, the Canadian Government, within
the scope of its Economic Action Plan 2012, announced that the 1 cent coin will
no longer be minted. Accordingly, from the Fall of 2012 the Royal Canadian Mint
will stop producing these coins, but the coins already in circulation will
remain legal tender and the penny will retain its value indefinitely and be
used in payments, but with certain restrictions – cash transactions will be
rounded off to the nearest 5 cents, while non-cash transactions (cheques,
credit cards, debit cards etc.) can still be paid to the nearest 1 cent.

Also,
while pennies can be redeemed at financial institutions the Canadian Government
is encouraging citizens to consider donating them to charities. (It occurs to
me that, perhaps, giving them to coin collectors/coin bloggers/coin websites
could be more useful, as this will go a long way in preserving the historic
heritage of the one penny coins for posterity).

New $1 and $2 coins:

-In April 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint has introduced
new generation one and two dollar coins for general circulation under its
endeavours to increase the cost – efficiency for new mintages. Accordingly,
these new generation coins will be a combination of several leading – edge
security features and along with the Royal Canadian mint’s patented Multi-ply
Plated Steel technology, these coins are made to last longer. This technology
includes a steel core with alternating layers of metals say, for example Brass
Copper, and nickel. These coins are set to lead the evolution of coins around
the World into a better and longer lasting “Avatar” (Hindi word for
incarnation).

-
The above is a picture of the new one - dollar coin (Loonie) .A “noticeable” change in the traditional design
of the $1 (Loonie) is the introduction of a single laser mark of a maple leaf
positioned within a circle on the coin’s reverse face above the Loon design.
This laser mark is produced by using a contrasting pattern micro-engraved on
the coin die, during the minting process.

-Similarly, in the $2 (Toonie) coin shown above, three
“noticeable” changes have been introduced:

The addition of two laser marks of
maple leaves, each within a circle, on the lower side of the coin’s reverse, a
virtual image of two maple leaves on the upper side of the coin, which results
in a different image being seen, when the coin is turned from side to side.

Another
interesting feature is that the virtual image is produced by engraving
different designs on each side of two-sided grooves on the face of the coin.

A
third difference is that the edge inscriptions “CANADA” and 2 DOLLARS” are
engraved along the outer edge of the coin. An image of the edge is shown below:

The Royal Canadian Mint:

-The Royal Canadian Mint was set up in 1908 when
the British Royal Mint opened the Ottawa branch.

-The Mint was handed over to Canadians in 1931.

-There are presently two mints one based at
Ottawa and the other at Winnipeg. The Ottawa mint produces hand-crafted
collector and commemorative coins, gold bullion coins, medals and medallions.
The mint at Winnipeg produces circulation coins at about 20 million coins per
day. It has also minted coins for over 60 other countries (including India),
based on specific orders.

-The 25 paise coin in 1985 and 1988 with the old
design as well as the new design (Save the Rhino Project, in collaboration with
the World Wildlife Fund (now the Worldwide Fund for Nature) were minted by the
Royal Canadian Mint for India. Both the coins exhibit the “c” mint mark, below
the year of issue.

I have specimens of both coins in my collection
and which are covered in detail in my post“20) Independent India issues: 25 paise coins; the
journey from usage over five decades to stepping into history” - Reference link given at the bottom of this post).

-From October 2006, a new “ mint mark” based on
the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) logo inside a circle has been engraved on the obverse
of all circulating coins issued, which is placed just below the Queen’s
portrait/bust(as given in the 25 cent coin above):

-The RCM, for designs on the reverse of coins,
lays stress on themes which necessarily reflect Canada’s heritage, culture and
values.

A strange experience with the Royal Canadian Mint:

Although I collect commemorative
coins from mints around the World, it was rather surprising to note that the
Royal Canadian Mint does not despatch coins to India-based customers, so much
so that having written to their customer service cell quite a few times as to
how to procure Commemorative coins brought out by them, I have received no
response from them.

Also, their Dealer’s list contains
the name of “London Mint Office, London” which is strictly speaking not an
International Dealer, but supplies coins to the U.K. citizens only on approval
basis and when I tried the Hong Kong based Dealer, after completing my form
details, the automated response was “The contacted website says @#%^&*+” (or something like that in Cantonese). I was
left wondering what the website was actually telling me!! Nevertheless, the Royal
Canadian Mint sends me details of their new releases through an
email-subscription, but there is little that I can do about buying these coins
in the face of such adversities!!

Commemorative / circulating special coin issues:

Some of the special issue
circulating commemorative coins issued by Canada are:

ØFor
Canada’s Centennial of Confederation in 1967, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a
series of coins depicting Canada’s wildlife. The following animals/birds/fishes
were included: 1 dollar coin (Canadian Goose), 50 cent coin (Wolf), 25 cent
coin (Wildcat/bobcat), 10 cent coin (Mackerel), 5 cent coin (Rabbit), 1 cent
coin (Dove). For the first time, $20 Gold coins were also issued having the
Queen’s Canadian Coat of Arms on the reverse.

ØThe
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) appeared on coins minted in 1973 and 1998.

ØThen
again, to commemorate Canada’s 125th year of existence in 1992, a
set twenty-five cent coins (quarters or quarter dollars) – one each for the ten
provinces and the then 2 territories – i.e. 12 coins – sets were brought out by
the Royal Canadian Mint. Since these coins were brought out in limited edition
sets, most of these were collected by numismatists.

Ø$1
coin was issued in 1995 commemorating the Canadian peace-keepers, known as the
peace-keepers dollar.

To
celebrate the new millennium in 1999 and 2000, commemorative coins were issued in both years.

ØA
10 cents coin was issued in 2001 for general circulation to honour volunteers.

ØA
Special edition of coins was brought out to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s
Golden Jubilee of her ascension as the Queen of Canada in 2002. These coins
were all in the denominations of $2 (polar bear), $1 (loon), 50 cents, 25
cents, 10 cents, 5 cents and 1 cent. These were accompanied by a special $1 coin
for the occasion, with a young Queen’s face on one side and a present day
profile (as in 2002) on the other.

Ø I25th Anniversary of Terry Fox
Marathon of Hope (2005 – the Terry Fox Dollar was unveiled, which was the first
time that a Canadian had figured on a circulation coin).

ØIn 2007, the Royal
Canadian mint produced the largest coin in the world – a 100 Kg. 99.999% pure
$1 million gold bullion coin which feat
was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Again,in
April 2008, a $2 circulating coin was issued by the Royal Canadian mint to
celebrate the Quadricentennial (400 years) of founding of Quebec City.

A “ lucky loonie”
2004 Olympics (to wish the athletes luck), Alberta and Saskatchewan centennial
quarters (2005), Lucky Loonie –Olympics 2006 (which was brought out to
commemorate the achievements of the
men’s and women’s Canadian Hockey teams which skated to victory over a
“lucky” loonie circulation dollar coin buried beneath the ice at the Olympics
Winter Games in 2002 and also to wish Canadian athletes success in the 2006
Winter Olympics), 2010 Olympic Games Circulation coins (in addition to several
non-circulating Commemorative Olympics coins).

ØIn
October 2011, the Royal Canadian Mint released 5 commemorative circulation coins.
These coins included: Parks Canada Centennial “Loonie” and the Boreal Forest
“Toonie”. In addition three 25 cents (quarters) were released featuring the Orca,
Peregrine falcon and the Wood bison.

The obverse of a coin issued in 2011, commemorating the Boreal Forest. It shows a portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II without a crown facing right, with the inscription “ELIZABETH
II D.G.REGINA (meaning Elizabeth II By the Grace of God Queen).

Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer campaign (2006), 10
anniversary of the $2 coin (2006), 90th Anniversary of the Armistice,
1918, showing the iconic red poppy, Canada’s Flower of Remembrance (2008), 100th
Anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club (2009), 100th
Anniversary of the Canadian Navy (2010), 100th Anniversary of the
Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Team (2010), 65th Anniversary of
end of World War II (2010).

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .